save Xara from a life of painful infections

Hi,

I’m Xara’s mom, Ashley. I’m fundraising to afford a TECA surgery for Xara. You wouldn’t know just by meeting Xara, but she’s had a tough go at life in the short time she’s been alive. She was found last summer by Auburn’s animal control, around six months old, missing a pinna (external ear) and deep scarring that has left bald patches along her neck.

Some months after being home, Xara started to show signs of allergies. She becomes exceptionally itchy around her paws and ears. Frequently, the scar left from her missing pinna will become inflamed during allergy seasons and she will rub at the scar until it bleeds or she cries.

The last time she experienced an allergy fit, an abscess (pocket of harmful bacteria) formed. I learned after the abscess ruptured that Xara’s inner ear is still intact and cannot drain any fluid or ick caused by her allergies. She rubbed and irritated the fluid trapped under the skin so much that her body brought the infection to the skin’s surface to force out harmful bacteria.

This process was incredibly painful for her and left a considerable gape along her pinna scar. At the time, I wasn’t sure what was happening and took her for an emergency after-hours visit at Auburn’s animal teaching hospital. They sedated her to clean up the wound and informed me that it was likely that this issue would continue to happen, especially with her chronic allergies. They referred her to get a head CT to confirm what they couldn’t see.

The result of her CT confirmed several things:

1. she suffered a trauma that removed her jugular, carotid, and salivary gland

2. the trauma is consistent with being a bait dog

3. her body overcompensated and developed new blood vessels.

4. she will require surgery to mitigate abscesses/infections

Veterinarians informed me that the TECA, Total Ear Canal Ablation, would be riskier for Xara since she’s missing major anatomic landmarks. This would increase the chance of her facial nerve being severed, meaning we would have to manually keep her eye lubricated with eye drops. The quality of life she would have with the TECA outweighs the risks involved.

It took about three weeks for her wound to heal completely. But she remains mainly cone-bound in hopes of relieving irritation due to her persistent rubbing/itchiness.

Even with obvious evidence of severe trauma, Xara wants nothing more than to make loving connections with people and animals; this girl is full of life and wants to share it! She had to fight, more than anyone should have to, to be here today. Anything you can donate to help me give her happy and pain-free life is greatly appreciated.